


The Best Ones Bite

by thequidditchpitch_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, Ficlet, Fluff, Post-War, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-06
Updated: 2008-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-27 16:16:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10812513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequidditchpitch_archivist/pseuds/thequidditchpitch_archivist
Summary: Charlie can't understand why Miss Brown seems so immune to his charms.





	The Best Ones Bite

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** Written for grownupron

Charlie was never the one to jump at the chance to work with a docile dragon. Oh, sure, he could appreciate a dragon at rest, particularly those with young ones to care for. Not many people had ever got the chance to see a dragon’s tender side. But the protective side—the brutal side—that was exhilarating. Granted, maybe he’d gotten a bit too close more than once, but the burns and scratches (and yes, teeth marks, though he never would have admitted to his mother that he ever got that close) were badges of courage, and reminders to respect the wild creatures for what they were.

Same could have been said for women, he reckoned. ‘The best ones bite,’ that’s what Joe used to say. And Joe would know, he supposed--hadn’t he lost a couple of fingers to that Horntail once they got her out of the crate? Of course, he’d probably been talking about human women—that wife of his was a spitfire.

Anyway, this one looked like she _would_ bite, Charlie thought. All prim and proper with her robes buttoned all the way up her neck and that fascinating mark down her cheek that he really needed to taste, if only she’d let him. She had to be repressing something, it was clear that she was coiled like a spring.

He recognized the name from Ginny’s fifth year letters, but the Miss Brown here bore little resemblance to the utter bimbo his sister had described in such detail.

She was irritable and businesslike and completely unwilling to give him the time of day. Not that he was giving up any time soon, mind you. Weasleys were nothing if not dogged.

 

‘Come on, Lavender, you have to eat, right? And anything’s better than the slop they serve here. There’s this place just over in the village, serves a smashing Tocanita and Romanian wine is world renowned.”

“I’ve already had one dose of the Weasley charm, thank you very much; I’m not anxious to repeat the experience.”

Charlie laughed. “Ah, but we improve with age, or didn’t you know? Like a good Uricani.”

“Why do you insist on turning this into an game when I am trying to get something accomplished here? This is not the way to impress me, Weasley, and if you think you’re going to seduce me into approving your funding, you are entirely mistaken.”

“Not trying to seduce you into the funding. Just trying to seduce you. Must be losing my touch.”

She rolled her eyes, and something like pain crossed her face. “Very funny, Mr. Weasley,” she said, gathering up her papers and standing up. For a moment, she looked as though she was going to leave. _Wait a minute, she_ was _going to leave!_

Charlie leapt up, grabbing her arm. “Now wait—I didn’t meant to-”

She wouldn’t look at him, so he bent lower, trying to force eye contact. To his astonishment, he discovered that there were tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said, horrified. Nothing made him feel worse than a woman in tears. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I’ll behave, I promise, just—”

“It’s not a joke, you know,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut. “You can’t treat people that way.”

“I was just flirting, didn’t mean any harm.”

“That I can handle, within reason, but you’re carrying it too far, someone might take you seriously.”

“I was serious.”

“Very funny,” she repeated, and he leaned closer, confused

She looked at the floor. “It’s been…it’s been a long time since anyone’s paid attention to me that way, and I know it’s like second nature to you—all you boys were like that—it’s probably bred into the genes with that ridiculous hair. But you’re looking at me, with those eyes and that mouth and those stupid fucking beautiful arms and shoulders and I just want to…I may be a freak, but I have feelings!”

"Wha?"

“You shouldn’t play with people that way--it’s not fair.”

“Whoever said I was playing? I told you; I was completely serious.”

She gritted her teeth. “Have you looked at me, you great prat? _This-_ ” she pointed to the line on her face, while her free hand unbuttoned her blouse, making his mouth drop. “And _this,_ and this- she pointed out gashes across her skin, red and puckered at the edges, running from her collar to the top of— _well, fuck me_ —a black lace bra. _Nice tits, too_.

_“Cool,_ ” Charlie said, tugging off his own shirt. “How’d you get 'em? I got this one from a Ridgeback, and this one was from a Chinese Fireball, and this one here was from when Fred made dad’s tool shed explode because he locked him out of it, and…

Lavender gaped. “You don’t…I mean, you _noticed?”_

“Course I did, hard to miss,” he said. “I mean, I thought it was interesting, but I had no idea it would go all the way down. Sort of reminds me of the ones Bill got on his face. How’d you get it, anyway?”

Lavender laughed a bit hysterically. “Er...the same way Bill did, I suppose.”

_“Wicked,”_ Charlie said. “Does that mean you get all twitchy and growly and ravenous at the full moon?

“Well, I wouldn’t put it exactly like that, but yes; I suppose so,” Lavender said.

Charlie grinned. “See, I knew you were my perfect woman.”


End file.
